Hugo Bedau Memorial Lecture, 9/11
Eaton Hall
5 The Green
The Hugo Bedau Memorial Lecture is an annual lecture held in the Department of Philosophy in honor of a former Professor and Chair of the Department. Hugo's principal contribution was his highly influential work on the death penalty. The lectures address topics of current concern through the lens of political philosophy, legal philosophy, and moral philosophy.
The Bedau lecture is attended by members of the Department of Philosophy, as well as graduate and undergraduate students in philosophy, along with many other members of the Tufts community interested in these topics. It is also attended by Constance Putnam, Hugo's widow, and other family and friends of Hugo. It is followed by a dinner for all speakers and attendees. It is the major event on the Department's calendar in most years.
This year's speakers are two distinguished philosophers from Princeton. Philip Pettit's work ranges widely over political philosophy (he is known for his work on republicanism), social choice theory, and philosophy of mind. Victoria McGeer's work focuses on moral and political psychology, and is informed by empirical work in social and developmental psychology.
About the Speakers:
Speaker #1: Dr. Philip Pettit (L.S. Rockefeller University Professor of Human Values at Princeton University)
Two Kinds of Agents: From Psychology to Politics"
Abstract: Plan-making and plan-taking agents differ insofar as the first construct the plans they follow in acting while the second execute ready-made plans. Ignored in the literature, the distinction applies at the collective as well as the individual level and enables us to argue, against a current fashion, that the democratic people can have collective control over the state.
Speaker #2: Dr. Victoria McGeer (Professor/Senior Research Scholar in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University)
“Empathy internalized: On the scaffolding power of self-directed emotion”
Abstract: Forthcoming
All are welcome. For questions, contact Dilip Ninan, dilip.ninan@tufts.edu.
